


Transceivers and Seizures

by nerdguy3000



Series: Leo and Alba [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Episode Tag: s02e08 The Things We Bury, Gen, Leo Fitz-centric, Protective Phil Coulson, Seizures, Service Dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:55:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25401229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdguy3000/pseuds/nerdguy3000
Summary: Fitz first field mission goes to hell and the aftermath doesn’t go much better.
Series: Leo and Alba [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1834102
Kudos: 20





	Transceivers and Seizures

**Author's Note:**

> I have no first hand experience of service dogs or seizures, all my research comes from the internet. If something isn’t right please let me know.

When the Director has first approached him and said that he would be coming with him on the bus, Fitz was concerned the last time that has happened, the bus almost blew up. Alba has been surprisingly okay during the whole thing, while the noise upset her she stayed by Fitz side and alerted him just as he was finishing showing Hunter how to rewire the plane. He then showed Hunter how to help him while he had a seizure, Hunter wasn’t sure which one he found more stressful. But Fitz realised it was an opportunity to push himself and he was up for that.

Now they were in Hawaii, he moved things around in the garage, Alba at his side, as Coulson gave Skye and Trip orders. He was being very secretive but Fitz was starting to accept that this was how Coulson was now he was director. As he wrapped up with Skye and Trip, Fitz began to make his way over, one hand resting on Alba. He was obviously here for a reason. 

“Any orders for me, sir?”

“You wanted to get back into the field? Here’s your chance.” As much as it scared him, Fitz wanted to regain some sense on his life before and that had included some fieldwork. Coulson opened a case and stepped aside to let Fitz see.

“That’s a transceiver. Or at least parts for one.” He could build a transceiver, he’d been doing things like this for years. How hard could that be?

“I’m going to need you to install this, in the field, under pressure, with no Alba, in under six minutes.” So it was going to be a lot more difficult than he had originally thought. A transceiver like the one Coulson had shown him would probably take around 10 minutes, if he was in the lab. And his coordination still wasn’t perfect.

“You are aware I only have one hand that works well.” Moving his left hand from Alba’s head and waving it at Coulson. This was going to be difficult. Especially without Alba. She had barely been away from his side since May had brought her to Fitz. 

“That’s why you’re going to practice it, over and over until you’ve got it down cold. Muscle memory. Don’t think about the action. Let the action help you think.” Easier said than done but he would let Coulson down. He had to prove himself.

“Piece of cake,” he said, mostly to himself as the director walked away. It wasn’t going to be but maybe if he said that enough times it would be true. Fitz closed up the case and headed up to the kitchen on the Bus, he needed a flat surface to be able to set out the equipment. 

He chose to sit at the table, it gave him a big surface area to work with and Alba could sit under it and on top of his feet to keep him grounded. He knew that he could easily get overwhelmed by the time constraints and having to work with a hand that didn’t quite function right. Taking a deep breath he set up a timer and began to assemble the transceiver. After several fail attempts Trip and Skye arrived from their assignments. He slammed his hand against the table in frustration, it just wasn’t cooperating. 

“Hey, whatever your doing, just take a break,” Skye said, coming up behind him. He carefully removed his feet from under Alba and started pacing. He shook his hand as he could feel the tension growing and the last thing he needed was for it to cramp. “What are you doing?”

“Coulson has me patching a transceiver into a system that’s not even meant to handle one.” Alba, having noticed Fitz had gotten up, moved to be beside him, leaning slightly on him in an attempt to calm him down.

“You can do that in your sleep,” Trip commented. 

“In my sleep, yes I’m quite good at it. Problem is, I’m awake.” Having found that pacing wasn’t helping Fitz knelt down next to Alba and started running his tired hands through her fur. It was a much better relaxant than the pacing had been. He took a deep, calming breath, “I think Coulson testing me.”

“Coulson doesn’t roll that way. If he’s got you in the dark, it’s for a reason.”

“Or just keeping me busy.” He was sat on the floor now, Alba laying cross his legs. He just needed a moment to collect himself, then he could go back at it swinging

“I just gave a button to a 300-pound Hawaiian dude.” That was true, he wasn’t the only one in the dark. Trip knelt down before continuing, “look we’ve been through some crazy. You two especially. But the whole time Coulson has been our anchor. He may seem lost but he’s always got a plan.”

Before Fitz could say anything he heard Coulson coming down the spiral staircase. Time to get back to work. As Trip gave Coulson the tie back, Fitz gently moved Alba off of him and made his way back to the table. He could do this, he wouldn’t let Coulson down. He could hear people talking but he blocked it out, that’s what he would need to do in the field. Concentrate on what he was doing, not what was happening around him. This was his chance to prove himself and nothing was going to go wrong.

Coulson tapped the table and Fitz looked at him, “under six minutes, you can do it.”

Deep breath and start again. Coulson was right, he could do this.

* * *

As the Bus was landing Fitz, Alba, Skye and Trip went down to the garage, Fitz, Trip and Coulson were going into the field while Skye and Alba stayed behind. Putting on the black tactical gear reminded Fitz of how thing used to be until he got stuck trying to pull the Velcro tight. 

“Hey it’s okay, I’ve got you,” Skye said coming over and fixing it for him. He pushed away the embarrassment, as May had drilled into him from the start, ‘it was okay to get help’.

Once Skye had got him in, Fitz knelt down to Alba’s level, she currently still had her vest one because up until now she had been on duty. Now he unclipped her vest and lay in on top of one of the boxes. “Hey, you gonna be a good girl for Skye? Hmm. Go see her.”

He pointed and Alba happily sauntered over to Skye who gave her a lot of pats. She enjoyed spending time with Alba but wished she could be going into the field with them. Before she could say anything to Alba Coulson arrived and started his brief. Fitz listened while gathering his gear, he didn’t really need to know the ins and outs of what was happening, he just needed to know where he was going. As Coulson finished up his brief he directed a question at Fitz, “how’s the transceiver patch coming along?”

“I've got it down to seven minutes and 20 seconds.” He thought he would mess with the Director a little. They needed a bit of levity. He closed up the case and turned to see the concerned look on Coulson’s face. 

“That’s not good enough.” 

“No, that’s with my bad hand. With both, I can do it. Definitely.” He turned and walked away, he was in the zone now. He just needs to take deep breathes. Nothing would go wrong.

* * *

So much had gone wrong, while he had managed to patch the transceiver into the satellite network, Trip had almost bled out in front of him. He and Coulson had carried him back, the man himself almost entirely unconscious from the blood loss. Coulson’s shirt was soaked in blood, Fitz could feel it on his hands. They had managed to get in context with Skye on the bus, told her to get a med team ready to patch up Trip properly. Coulson hadn’t mentioned anything about Skye’s father over the comms and Fitz knew that wasn’t about to be an easy conversation. As they entered the bus and handed Trip to the medics, Fitz went straight for Alba’s vest. He had a feeling he would need her, he was definitely about to have a mild freak out and those went better with Alba around. 

As they arrived upstairs in the bus Alba moved from lying at Skye’s feet to greet Fitz, seeing her harness she got into a position where he could attach it easily. Deciding to bypass what was going to be a difficult conversation Fitz headed straight for his little pod on the bus. He wanted to get changed out of the black and bloody gear so he could get into a cardigan or something a lot more comfortable. He hadn’t said anything to Alba but she followed behind him, sensing his exhaustion and stress she knew he wouldn’t be very verbal. 

He got changed quickly, tossing aside the gear, knowing he wouldn’t need to deal with it but not feeling strong enough yet. But he did need something to drink, slowly he had his way towards the little kitchen on the bus, it should be stocked with water bottles. He could see Skye and Coulson talking in the briefing room and as much as he wanted to be there for his friend, he knew now wasn’t the right time. 

Then something else went wrong, something he hadn’t expected. And for him, everything went black.

* * *

Coulson was just finishing telling Skye what had happened with her father, much to Skye’s dismay when it happened. A loud thump put them on high alert, then Alba came bounding up to them and they knew exactly what had happened. Quickly they followed the dog back to Fitz, who was violently convulsing on the floor of the kitchen. Skye sprang into action, positioning herself at Fitz’s head, holding it gently so he didn’t cause himself any damage, unfortunately, there was a small cut on his forehead that must have happened when he fell. While Skye did that Coulson grabbed the stopwatch from Alba. This was very concerning, to say the least, after the Ward incident Fitz had never ignored Alba and she caught most of his seizures, the ones she didn’t catch seemed to be the worst. 

“Coulson, how long have we been away from the base?” Skye asked, holding Fitz gently as he thrashed violently. 

“Around 20 hours, why?” Coulson was confused at why that matter right now. Fitz was seizing, that hardly seemed important.

“And you didn’t tell him how long we would be away?” Skye asked

“Oh god.” The penny finally dropped. Because he hadn’t informed Fitz how long they would be away, Fitz hadn’t brought his medication onto the Bus. The last time they were on a longer mission on the bus Coulson had told him to bring at least a few days worth of his medications but he hadn’t this time. He’d been too wrapped up in his need to find this alien city that he’d put not one but two of his team members at risk. 

“Yeah, I didn’t even think about it until now.” 

They lapsed into silence, a wet patched formed on the floor and they averted their eyes, it had been a while since that had happened and they knew Fitz would be incredibly embarrassed. The seconds were quickly adding up, Coulson was ready to shout for a medic as it passed the three minutes 20-second mark. Then the shaking slowed to a stop, as Fitz lay there unconscious Phil turned to Skye, “can you grab a blanket and a change of clothes?”

She nodded and Coulson rolled Fitz onto his back and moved him away from the mess. When they were far enough away, Alba lay down next to Fitz, putting her head on his chest. Skye returned with a pair of sweatpants and an undershirt that Fitz had kept on the bus, most of his clothes in his bunk on the base. She put a blanket over his legs to keep prying eyes away from his little accident. 

“I’m going to keep everyone busy and away from here, you good on your own sir?” 

“Yeah, thank you, Skye.” She left and Coulson took up vigil next to Fitz. He should have protected him better.

* * *

While Fitz was used to the groggy feeling after a seizure, he usually had some memory beforehand of getting onto the ground and sending Alba to go find help. He had no such memory and instead, a pounding headache. He tried to open his eyes but moaned at the bright lights assaulting his vision. He heard someone get up and after a few moments, it got darker.

“Fitz?” He opened his eyes to see the Director leaning over him.

“Sir, what-“ he cut himself off as he felt a dampness, “oh.”

“Hey, look at me. This wasn’t your fault and you have nothing to feel ashamed for okay. Only Skye and I saw this okay? And I should have told you to bring your medication with you.”

“No sir, I should have been more prepared.”

“Hey, no. It’s my responsibility to make sure everyone is prepared. This is a learning curve for all of us and next time we’ll be more prepared.” Coulson helped Fitz sit up against the cupboard. And sat next to him.

“You did good today Fitz and I don’t want this putting a dampener on the good work you did. You installed that transceiver under intense pressure and I couldn’t be more proud.”

“How’s Trip?” He wasn’t sure what to say, he had never been very good at taking compliments, so just changed the subject.

“He’s doing okay, they’ve patched him up and he’s just resting, Skye brought you some clothes so you can get changed. Then get some rest. You did good.”

Fitz smiled at that, yeah he had done alright in the end.

**Author's Note:**

> All feedback welcome!
> 
> Comment any situations you’d like me to put these two in.


End file.
